Reenactors lead battlefield program Saturday in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.

Reenactors at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will talk about the camp where 70,000 troops were trained during the Spanish-American War.

Photo by
Doug Strickland/Times Free Press.

Reenactors of the 3rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry will discuss the role Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park played as a training post during the Spanish-American War.

On Saturday at the battlefield in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., the reenactors will be located behind the battlefield's visitor center between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Named Camp Thomas as a tribute to Gen. George H. Thomas, Chickamauga Battlefield served as a training camp for up to 70,000 troops during the three months it was in operation during the Spanish-American War, which took place in 1898.

However, very few of the troops who trained at Camp Thomas saw actual combat because many died during epidemics of disease that swept through the camp. Their final resting places can be found in Chattanooga National Cemetery.

For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, visit the park's website at www.nps.gov/chch.